A city that has more than 700 police officers, a city that has an “AA-/Stable” financial rating, a city with 16 branch libraries open five days a week, a city where Ceasefire is working, a city with three major commercial projects in the works and a city that has learned much from Occupy.

We are looking to Libby Schaaf to make Oakland an even more commodious and glorious city.

Gen Katz

Oakland

Time to pull plug on the protesters’ party

Protesting police brutality by destroying storefronts and defacing public property is senseless vandalism.

Protesters are not being peaceful but are engaging in radical and unlawful behavior. The Oakland Police Department should no longer turn their heads.

As a longtime resident of Oakland, I no longer want the OPD to stand down and watch protesters break the law. It’s time to stop the hooligans and support the merchants who chose to build their businesses in Oakland.

City leaders must decide to show the protesters that unlawful behavior is not tolerated and is not acceptable in our city. Any message relating to police brutality has been lost, and we must take back our city.

Peaceful protests are welcomed, but let us stop the damage and destruction.

Linda J. Robertson

Oakland

Inconveniencing us all exactly the point

The Dec. 17 letter “Disruptions are not best way for change” decried protesters blocking traffic because many folks are inconvenienced by this tactic. But that’s the point. A time has come (again) when what we take for granted — the seamless operation of our cities and roads — needs to be contrasted with the intense, militarized oppression of African-Americans in every city.

Too many women and men have been “inconvenienced” out of their lives. Of course it’s annoying not to make an important appointment or family dinner. But it’s way past time for us to recognize those whose backs our conveniences are built on, those who suffer from racism in our communities.

Blocking traffic is peaceful — it does not warrant police reprisals, certainly not the National Guard. We have signed petitions, written letters, stood quietly with our placards.

Apparently, people need to experience inconvenience, even for short spurts, to notice what’s going on around us. Pay attention now, the protesters are saying, and the voices of the dead join them.

Elana Dykewomon

Oakland

Resolve to get your diet clean in 2015

It’s time for New Year’s resolutions, particularly those about our health. Although gun violence remains the leading cause of death among young people, our most dangerous weapon is still our fork: 45 times as many die of chronic diseases linked to a diet containing animal products, sugar and salt.

Hardly a month goes by without another study linking consumption of animal products with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. No reputable study has ever shown an opposite result.

But times are changing. Hundreds of schools, colleges, hospitals and corporate cafeterias, have embraced Meatless Monday. According to a Gallup poll, 22 percent of American consumers are avoiding meat and 12 percent are avoiding dairy products. Harris Interactive claims that 47 percent of American consumers are reducing consumption of animal products.

Accordingly, plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products are growing explosively, propelled by investments from Microsoft, PayPal and Twitter founders. Fast-food chains like Chipotle, Subway and Taco Bell are rolling out vegan options.

Let this New Year’s resolution be about exploring the rich variety of plant-based entrees, lunchmeats, cheeses, ice creams and milks in our supermarket. The Internet offers tons of recipes and transition tips.

Samuel Bentino

Oakland

Boxer and Pelosi stopped polluters

Some of America’s biggest polluters tried some sneak attacks on the Clean Water Act in the form of must-pass legislation to avoid a government shutdown. Thanks to Sen. Barbara Boxer and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, they failed.

A decade ago, polluter-led lawsuits opened up loopholes in the Clean Water Act. This left two-thirds of California’s streams and 20 million acres of wetlands nationwide without federal protection and at risk for pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency is working to solve the problem, and it is now on the threshold of restoring key protections for these waterways. But the same big polluters went all-out to block EPA through a budget rider.

I applaud Boxer and Pelosi for stopping these attacks on our water. I urge our elected leaders to be vigilant for the Clean Water Act next year.

Three women have told the New York Times that music mogul Russell Simmons raped them, the latest in a cascade of serious allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful men in entertainment, media, politics and elsewhere.